Power-cut at SSKM spells misery for patients

Statesman News Service | July 13, 2013 6:10 pm

statesman news service KOLKATA, 13 JULY: Patients at SSKM hospital had a harrowing time today following power failure that plunged some of the wards into darkness and hinted at the necessity to replace the outdated electrical system.
Hospital sources said that a technical snag in the substation-II led to the disruption of power supply at Ronald Ross and Chest buildings which has several important departments such as Burn ward, Plastic Surgery, Endocrinology, and others.
The two buildings remained in complete darkness for nearly five to seven minutes before the emergency services were restored, but some sections of the buildings were without power for nearly an hour, admitted a senior official of the electrical department in the hospital.
He added, things have been fixed temporarily and proper repairs would be undertaken tomorrow. Patients complained of heat and humidity during the power-cut. "Such incidents are not rare in the hospital but heat and humidity makes the situation unbearable," a patient said.
In fact, there were also reports of power disruption at PGT Hostel opposite SSKM and smoke bellowing out of CIB building in the government hospital. The director of SSKM Professor Pradip Kumar Mitra said that the technical snag had caused the problem, but electricians soon rushed and brought the situation under control.
Apart from power cuts, a TMT machine in cardiology department went out-of-order resulting in angry outbursts from patients.